WESTPORT — Although he made a living in the software industry, Tony Connors realized he most enjoyed reading about history and decided to go back to school part time in his 40s.

His passion not only led him to obtain a doctorate at age 59 from Clark University, it took him on a path that eventually led to the Westport Historical Society.

A scholar of early American history, Connors, 65, saw value in preserving historic homes as a reminder of the past, and he led the society's effort to acquire the 18th-century Handy House this year.

"I found that you can tell people about the past, but it really comes home to them when they can feel it in some way, when something makes it real to them," said Connors, the society's president for four years. "Old houses are a way of imagining the past, which is different than just learning facts about the past."

For helping ensure the preservation of the Handy House, Connors has been named The Standard-Times 2011 Westport Man of the Year. Nominations for the award came from the community and members of the newspaper staff. Recipients were selected by a newsroom committee.

Connors emphasized that the Handy House initiative was a collaborative effort. The society's vice president, Betty Slade, gives him a lot of credit, though.

"A lot of people were involved in that, including myself and many others, but without his endeavors to make it happen, it would not have happened," Slade said.

Jenny O'Neill, executive director of the society, said she and Connors were in the "hot seats" making the case for the purchase before the Community Preservation Committee and Town Meeting, which approved the use of Community Preservation Act money for the purchase.

"He was very logical in thinking through what are advantages of preserving the Handy House," O'Neill said. "He was not just carried away by an emotional response."

An East Providence native who frequently visited Westport growing up, Connors has lived full time in the town since retiring in 2006. He is married and has three grown children.

The house, which was originally built around 1710 with only a couple of rooms, was expanded and turned into a more Georgian-style house about 40 years later. It was added onto again circa 1825 and turned into a Federal-style home.

The house is formally known as the Cadman-White-Handy House after various owners, but it's most commonly referred to as just the Handy House. The Handys were father-and-son physicians who owned the house from the 1790s to the 1860s, according to Connors.

Eleanor Tripp, a town historian who died in 2003, lived in the house for more than 50 years, helping restore and preserve its historic character. After she died, three nieces in Texas inherited the house. They put the house up for sale in the summer of 2010. The Historical Society purchased the house last January for $375,000, Connors said.

"It was a historic preservation project with real benefits to the town, because it's probably the oldest standing house in Westport and also because we were going to open it to the public," Connors said.

While it would be difficult for private owners to tear down the house because it's on the National Register of Historic Places, there would be no guarantee they would maintain the building or make it accessible to the public, Connors said.

The house needs a significant amount of money for repairs, including work on the foundation. The society seeks to raise $1.5 million, and it's about half-way toward that goal thanks to the CPC support for the purchase, private donations and pledges, Connors said.

The society has been selling a cookbook with recipes from Tripp to help raise money.